


Her Teacher, His Student, My First Love

by DeadEye09



Category: Fire Force - Fandom, 炎炎ノ消防隊 | Enen no Shouboutai | Fire Brigade of Flames (Manga), 炎炎ノ消防隊 | Enen no Shouboutai | Fire Force (Anime)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Reader-Insert, Romance, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:02:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21705652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeadEye09/pseuds/DeadEye09
Summary: "The first stab of love is like a sunset, a blaze of color—oranges, pearly pinks, vibrant purples..."—Anna Godbersen: The Luxe
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Shinmon Benimaru/Original Female Character, Shinmon Benimaru/Reader
Comments: 10
Kudos: 119





	Her Teacher, His Student, My First Love

Shinmon Benimaru didn’t have time for things like ‘love.’ He actually found the subject matter quite bothersome. Mainly because he always managed to have his plate filled with an abundance of duties and responsibilities to carry out from those around him, when he didn’t clearly remember ever saying he wanted to do so.

And most recently, he’d been entirely occupied with the issue of The White-Clad and their mission of finding, “the pilot light,” on top of managing his bustling company of rowdy fire soldiers.

What he wouldn’t give to have some time for himself, was a thought that often crossed his mind.

So, when Vulcan-company eight’s trustworthy (more like their only) mechanic/engineer had said he knew of someone who could be of help at the seventh, Benimaru had his doubts but was in no position to decline the generous offer.

-

It had been a long time since you had stopped to breathe in the fresh air of Asakusa as you walked down its dirt path. The lively town brought back a mixture of both sad and happy memories.

When you arrived at the guardhouse, Konro was there to welcome you warmly. He was a skilled fire soldier but his tephrosis limited him to the duties he could perform, and with Hina and Hika still being the youngsters that they were; they would rather run around playing or causing mischief than help him carry out a list boring chores.

Whether one was coming in or the other was leaving, simple greetings were all you and Benimaru would exchange day after day, as you passed by one another in the corridors of the guardhouse.

He was still the same stoic man that always kept to himself you thought, as he lifted up one side of the noren hung in the doorway of the entrance to the guardhouse, to go outside to attend to an infernal. 

After a long day it was normal to see him coming back late at night walking straight to his room and then proceeding to face plant onto his futon completely exhausted.

You learned that while you were away, the townspeople took it upon themselves to give Benimaru his moniker as, “the destroyer of Asakusa;” mainly due to the festival of destruction he would conduct on the town whenever someone was turned infernal, as a way of mourning their deaths.

Whenever you weren’t busy with the task of cleaning the floorboards, helping out with repairs around the town, preparing meals for everyone, etc. all the other times, you spent your alone time in the backyard experimenting with your flames.

You were a third-generation fire user and your powers allowed you to produce an exact flaming replica of the object, in any varying size and number. The only downside was that you needed two minutes to reset/refresh in between each replication and the amount/size produced would cost in equal amount to the oxygen in your body.

Simply put, if you were to make a copy of ten giant swords, your oxygen supply would be reduced by 50%; and while it was a powerful skill to have, you had to use it sparingly.

“What ya’ got there?” Benimaru called out from behind you while standing on the wooden patio with his hands folded into the sleeves of his loose haori.

You explained as you spun around the long wooden rod, “It’s called a matoi. It’s what the firemen from old Japan would use to alert the townspeople if there was a fire.” The straw braids reinforced with leather flapped up and down while spinning around the wooden rod in a circular motion. “Though it doesn’t look like much, it served a greater purpose.”

Benimaru pointed to the blank diamond shaped slab of wood at the very top of the matoi. “Looks like it’s missing something; if I remember correctly, isn’t it supposed to have a kanji character written on it?”

You laughed sheepishly, “I haven’t thought of one just yet. I’ve been told the character you choose is supposed to represent something important, like a beacon of light for the civilians if there were ever a full-scale attack on Asakusa by The White-Clad. Maybe I’ll put “hope,” to symbolize a pillar of hope. Would that be too cheesy though?” as you scratched the side of your head.

“That’s just like her,” Benimaru pleasantly thought with a subtle smile.

-

After failing miserably in every practical test when you were a rookie fire soldier at the fire academy, you were at your wits end. Even your fellow teachers and classmates thought it was best if you just gave up and went home.

Benimaru walked down the hallway heading for his room at the far end, toweling off his still damp hair after getting out of the showers. He paused for a moment when he heard the sound of someone groaning in frustration through the walls doors of the training room.

“Ugh, it’s hopeless!” You cried, kicking an 80 lb. dumbbell against the wall after failing to produce a flame that was hot enough to melt the block of solid steel.

Benimaru leaned against the doorframe. “You know, you’re only a failure if you easily give-up like one.” He said lazily.

You turned around covered in sweat, “Huh?”

Benimaru pointed to the sputtering flame in your hand that struggled to tighten. “You’ve got a top-notch power but it’s useless if you can’t control it.”

You rubbed your eyes and replied with a voice that threatened to break any minute, “That’s easy for you to say. You mastered your flames and currently rank as the top student of the senior fire soldier class. I don’t know what else to do, my flames won’t work the way I want them to in my head.”

Benimaru sighed, “Then there’s your answer. You just have to get out of your head and let yourself feel it. Fire is a force of nature that moves of its own free will; it doesn’t stop to think before it turns and spreads into a wildfire, it just does.”

-

After much begging while following him around like a lost puppy around the academy’s campus, Benimaru ended up caving and reluctantly took you under his wing. As your mentor, he was no pushover. He was more like an over pusher.

You flopped flat onto your back, feeling pain throbbing in every single fiber of your body possible.

Benny stood with his shadow looming over you, blocking the scorching sun’s rays, “Do it again. I didn’t say you could take a break.”

“I can’t feel my legs; I think you broke them from making me run the entire length of Asakusa 100 times over while carrying you on my back.”

“There’ll be no time for whining when an infernal is running rampant around town. Human lives will be put in danger if you can’t keep up with it.” Benimaru cocked his brow, “Is there a reason why you chose to become a fire soldier in the first place?”

You solemnly looked down towards the space between your dirtied boots to the tree at the far end of the wall. “Yeah, even someone as weak as me, has a goal. After watching my mother being turned into an infernal with one of those bugs right in front of my eyes only to spontaneously combust; from that day on, I vowed to become stronger so I would never lose another person to a sullied flame.”

You lifted your head and looked to Benimaru with determination in your eyes. “And because I need to prove to a certain someone that he didn’t make a mistake taking me on as his pupil.”

“You’re a lot stronger than you look, we might have more in common than I thought.” He nudged your shoulder with his boot. “Well break times over, come try to kill me.”

“Yes sir!”

-

And when Benimaru wasn’t busy putting you through Hell’s boot camp, you both found yourselves spending your lunch breaks sitting together under the falling petals of a Sakura tree.

Or, it was more like you were lost in staring at the man who preferred to spend his spare time napping against the said tree.

The bags under his eyes didn’t take away from his beautiful irises when they were awake, while his long lashes that naturally curved up just a bit, rested softly like a feather on a still pond.

You would never say it aloud but you thought he had the cutest nose and the right ratio of plumpness to his upper and lower lip that were just the right tinge of pink. You couldn’t help but find them so kissable.

His broad shoulders and well-built upper torso leaned perfectly against the dark brown bark of the sturdy trunk. The way the ends of his soft and neck-long, black hair would flow gently with a passing breeze, revealed the carved dip of his collarbones, as his strong chest rose and fell in deep steady waves with each breath.

You could see each curve of his defined muscles, especially his biceps under his dark blue haori; while his large hands that were calloused at the palms from toil, peeked out from under its long sleeves. It also didn’t help that his well-proportioned legs seemed to go on forever.

Despite Benimaru’s reserved nature and seemingly, ‘can’t-be-bothered’ air around him; he was genuinely kind and warmhearted. Those around him held great respect for the future captain and hoped to someday be just like him.

Looking back, Benimaru could’ve just flat out ignored you until the end of time until you stopped saying, “Please Benimaru” every five seconds to mentor you. But he instead chose to invest all his time, effort and patience into training you into the fire soldier you wanted to become.

“Stare any longer and you’re gonna burn this tree down,” as he shifted to cross one leg over the other.

“I-I was not!” You shuffled around in your seat, trying to fan your blushing face that only seemed to burn hotter.

You suddenly remembered the treat you had brought along to share with Benimaru as you unzipped your bag to pull out something small wrapped in white parchment paper, holding it out in both hands to him. “H-Here, please have one.”

Benimaru blinked one eye open and stared at it suspiciously, “What is it?”

“It’s called daifuku.” You peeled back its wrapper to reveal the soft white mochi dusted with confectioner’s sugar, filled with sweet azuki bean and a succulent fresh strawberry in the middle.

“I don’t like sweets.” Benimaru moved backwards to where his shoulders slumped away from the trunk to resume his nap.

“O-Oh,” you looked down to the dessert feeling a bit depressed.

Benimaru sighed. “Okay, give it here.”

Your frown immediately turned upside down, as you smiled excitedly and placed it in the palm of his hand. Your heart beat with anticipation as you watched him take a bite and waited for his critique.

He chewed the sticky-textured treat a few times before moving it to the other side of his mouth to munch on it some more. “Hmm, it’s not half-bad” as Benimaru feigned how the soft and sweet mochi’s taste only seemed to amplify into bursting fireworks on his tongue with each bite, when he reached the center to the juicy strawberry.

“Really? I’m so glad you like it,” you relayed happily.

Benimaru halted mid chew. “You’re an odd one, what’s there to be so happy about?” as he smoothly reached for seconds.

“You said you didn’t like sweets but I got you to try it didn’t I? Food tastes better when you have someone to share it with,” as you took a bite of yours with a look of pure bliss on your face.

-

Your intense training continued along with sharing many more moments of happiness with Benimaru like the aforementioned.

When he was with you, he felt free from the watchful eyes and silent high expectations from his teachers and peers; he could just be himself.

He knew you would be bouncing off the walls if he ever told you how you made him feel when you suddenly called him, “Benny” one day.

It was totally uncalled for when he was reading a book and you called after him from the other side of the hallway after classes, “Benny! Look! I aced my written final exam from Mr. Akitaru’s class!”

Benimaru could’ve sworn his heart skipped a beat and immediately swallowed the foreign feeling faster than anything else in his life.

You swung your arms around his neck as you jumped for joy, “And it’s all thanks to you! Thank you Benny!”

He wanted badly to reciprocate your embrace but there were too many pairs of hawk eyes staring at you two.

So he had no choice but to settle for patting the middle of your back for a job well done. “Yeah, I suppose you’re welcome.”

-

“You seem to be enjoying yourself lately,” Hibana (soon later to be known as “Princess Hibana,” captain of company five) said with a knowing look to Benimaru, taking a sip of her tea.

Benimaru leaned back against the sofa, putting his feet on the table of the staff room with Obi and Hinawa sitting on the seats of either side of the coffee table.

“Huh? You must be seeing things then.”

“No, you definitely seem less grumpy.” Hinawa begged to differ as he blew on his cup of piping hot coffee wearing one of his vintage hats with a funny saying stitched on the front.

You stood on the other side about to knock because you were going to ask Hinawa about a question on pyrokinesis on the homework he handed out this afternoon.

Hibana agreed matter-of-factly, “You’re always with that rookie from Obi’s class. You two are practically joined at the hip even after classes. She seems to doing better since you started helping her with her training.”

“You’ve got dust in your eyes from all the gravel you stomp on,” as Benimaru swung his arms over the back of the sofa.

“I sense something, is it love blossoming perhaps?” Obi nudged Benimaru’s arm with his elbow, wearing a playful expression on his face.

You felt your heart racing as you swallowed in wait for his answer, in hopes he felt the same way about you that you did for him.

“Would you all just give it a rest already? She’s just some kid, a student at the fire academy; nothing more, nothing less. We’ll probably be strangers once we graduate anyway,” Benimaru replied adamantly. Your hand held against the door dropped onto the floor along with your heart, as you turned the other way to head for your room with tears in your eyes.

-

It was the day all your hard work had finally paid off as you exited out the doors of the auditorium as a graduate of the fire academy, “I did it! I really graduated!” You happily exclaimed to Benimaru who had already graduated last week but came to congratulate you on your special day.

“You worked hard, you earned it.” Benimaru held out a bouquet of different colored daisies.

You hesitated from his unexpected surprise before he urged you to take them, “T-thank you. How did you know they were my favorite?” You closed your eyes and smiled as you inhaled their sweet and refreshing scent.

“I saw you ogling at them in the front yard; it wasn’t hard to see that you liked them.”

You blushed, “Still, thank you for coming to see me graduate. Looks like I’ll be indebted to you for the rest of my life Benimaru” as you nervously laughed.

You started calling him by his full name again after the previous night, thinking it would put an invisible wall between you two, to stop your heart from plowing through your chest and into his arms.

Benimaru paused briefly in irritation; he didn’t like hearing how formally you had been addressing him when he was starting to grow fond of your pet/nickname for him.

“Don’t worry yourself, we live in the same town remember?”

“Ah, about that. I got recruited into company one, it’s located in Shinjuku, Tokyo. And I actually have to leave right after this… I guess I forgot to tell you?” you lied and forced an awkward laugh, averting your eyes from his heated stare.

When in actuality you had been avoiding him since that day and lied to cut your lessons short so you could run back to your dorm and cry your broken heart into your pillow. You felt bitterly happy that you would be stationed far away from Asakusa.

Benimaru relaxed his furrowed eyebrows and sighed, “I see. In that case, I’m happy for you. I know you’ll do well,” the words left his mouth tasting like rubbing alcohol.

He knew had assumed right that the footsteps he heard running from the other side of the door of the teacher’s lounge were yours, on the night he was discussing your future with the other teachers. When he saw your eyes red and puffy the next day, it was obvious you didn’t hear him out till the end of their conversation.

“You know, you could start up a company of your own here in Asakusa.” Obi suggested as he looked through the list of people that were scouting students from the fire academy to join their companies after graduation.

“I see she’s been scouted by company one,” Hinawa held out the sheet of paper to Benimaru, pointing to your name and photo, with the words “To be Scouted/Recruited by: Company One, Status on Offer: [Blank].”

Obi leaned back into his seat to stretch out his arms. “If she accepts their offer, she’ll have to relocate Tokyo. That’s a far ways from Asakusa,” as he looked to Benimaru for his reply.

“They’re just a group of royal lap dogs housed in some fancy temple with no minds of their own. People in Asakusa stick together and thrive, and she shares the same center of that beating heart. She’ll only continue to grow as she comes into her own and she’ll always have me in her corner.

So I wouldn’t worry that little head of yours Hibana, I won’t leave her side even if she begged me to.” Benimaru smirked proudly as he crossed his arms and leaned his head back onto the sofa.

“I’m impressed you figured that out on your own.”

“Here I was thinking you were an emotionless stone wall like me.”

“You’re still the gravel beneath my throne like these two, make sure you send me an invitation when the two of you get married or I’ll stomp you to the ground until you’re nothing but finely ground gravel.”

-

Benimaru returned home to the guardhouse to see you lying on the wooden floor of the patio staring at the full moon while drinking from a porcelain cup filled with sake, and its half-empty bottle sitting right above your shoulder.

“You’ll catch a cold if you sleep outside.”

“Weeeee it’s Benimaru!” You sat up too quickly and felt the room spinning.

He lunged forward to catch you from falling over and hitting your head on the floor as he sighed, “After all these years you still can’t handle your liquor.” (Sigh~ The pot calling the kettle black; we all know the man gets drunk after one sip XD)

You stretched your hand outwards and pointed animatedly, “Isn’t the sky so pretty? Look! The stars are so shiny!” as your eyes twinkled just the same.

Benimaru snickered at your playful reactions, “Pfft you’re such a kid. You get excited over the smallest things,” as he ruffled your hair.

You frowned, “Hic-I’m not a little kid anymore!”

Benimaru was about to answer with a smart-lipped reply before you snuggled into his arms feeling sleep overcoming you. His body stiffened as he inhaled the sweet scent of your shampoo mixed with a layer of sake. “When will you see me as a hic-adult? I’m hic-still in love hic-with you Beni.”

How long had it been since he felt your body against his?

No one knew how he constantly paced around his room like an energizer bunny when he found out that the person Vulcan had recommended to him was you.

Benimaru stood in front of the mirror and his closet the night before you were supposed to arrive to Asakusa, trying to figure out how to make himself look more presentable before groaning in defeat as he fell back onto his futon.

The only time he saw you after the day you graduated from the fire academy was when Raffles III called all the captains of the special fire force for an emergency meeting to the Holy Sol Temple.

He left in the middle of the meeting deeming that what the pope was spouting was absolute nonsense as he barged out the front doors. He saw a couple members of company one waiting outside and guessed you had to be around somewhere too.

“Konro, give me a minute. I’ll be right back,” as he looked back and forth by the steps and front yard before walking around the corner to the back.

“Hold on, your collar’s crooked.”

“Ah, I didn’t notice.” Benimaru unknowingly smiled when he heard your voice again and was about to go over to where you stood by the garden.

“Thanks Karim,” you innocently smiled as he bent down with his face in front of yours to fix your white cape-like garment.

Benimaru’s expression soured with how close the lieutenant of company one was standing too close to you. He thought if Karim was any closer, his lips would’ve ended up brushing against yours.

“There we go, that uniform suits you. You look cuter than a cute cutie.” Benimaru was this close to using his Iai Chop on Karim when he saw how he made you held your tongue and blushed.

“Th-thanks Kar-“ Karim pulled you against his chest and wrapped his arms around your waist as he whispered something into your ear. Benimaru took one step forward with his flaming arm before Karim pulled you away by the shoulders.

Karim grinned with a cocky smile pointing repeatedly to his cheek.

“What’s this idiot think he’s doing?” Benimaru muttered.

You fiddled your fingers for a brief second before standing onto your tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek.

Benimaru felt his knees go weak as his fire extinguished, “Looks like she’s long forgotten about me.” His heart ached with a bitter smile on his face before he turned around and left with Konro back to Asakusa.

Your face reddened as Karim wrapped an arm around your shoulder to join the rest the company.

“There you guys are!” Tamaki ran up to you and held onto your hands in anticipation.

Rekka rubbed his hands together looking to Karim with his widened starry eyes. “So, who won?”

You pouted as you pointed to Karim, “He did. His joke was so lame it actually made me laugh.”

“Victory really is the sweetest sweet sweets there is.”

Benimaru got back to Asakusa with a flaming chip on his shoulder which went noticed but unmentioned by Konro, the girls and his company, unless they wanted an afternoon of him shouting an earful about how he hated guys who wore capes and had blue hair.

Yet, he still felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest while he waited and felt his heart skyrocketing when he saw you again. Your schedules just never seemed to match and time didn’t give the both of you more than three seconds to speak to one another before having to leave

Benimaru felt all his useless worries run down the drain when he heard your confession and wanted to give you an answer the next day when you were sober.

But just when you two got home and ran into each other in the doorway the night of, a powerful infernal turned demon wreaked havoc on the small town.

Even after using his finishing move, it still wasn’t enough. The amount of fiery energy running rampant in the monster’s body heavily outweighed that of Benimaru’s.

No matter how deeply and desperately he inhaled, oxygen wouldn’t enter into his lungs.

“It’s no use, I can’t breathe.” Benimaru stared face to face with the demon as he lay on the ground depleted of all his strength.

Everything else around you was destroyed, it was like watching the nightmare incident from when you were a child happening all over again.

You had finished evacuating the rest of the townspeople when you saw Benimaru on the ground. He was the strongest person in the fire force and the strongest person you ever came to know, and to see him defeated rattled you in your boots as you stood watching helplessly on the sidelines.

You clenched your shaking hands into fists, “Just how powerful is this demon?”

“Damn it, there has to be something I can do.” The both of you thought simultaneously.

You looked to Benimaru then to your surroundings, there was no one to help you now. Your thoughts wreaked havoc on your mind all at once, “It’s up to me to protect them” as you produced your weapon.

You clapped your hands together as you would a prayer, steadily parting your palms across your chest as a fiery 10 foot long spear with its large blade forged sharper than any other called a, guandao/yanyuedao-“reclining moon blade.” It was a long wooden pole with a crescent shaped blade at one end, with a dagger hidden behind a red veil at its tail end.

You spent countless hours perfecting it and trained so it would be an extension of your body as you breathed in and took your fighting stance.

“Don’t you dare act like you own this place! Asakusa is my town, you pick a fight here, you answer to me!”

Benimaru froze at the sudden sound of your voice as he used his fists to turn his weakened body around to face you. “Get away from here! This demon’s fight is with me, you can’t win!” Benimaru shouted.

You hung onto your weapon like a staff dug into the earth beneath you as you looked to the ground, tears running down your face.

“Remember what I told you that day?”

-

_“Is there a reason why you chose to become a fire soldier in the first place?”_

_“Yeah, even someone as weak as me, has a goal. After watching my entire hometown being burned to the ground along with everyone in it, from that day on, I promised vowed to become stronger so I would never lose another person to a sullied flame.”_

_“And because I need to prove to a certain someone that he didn’t make a mistake taking me on as his pupil.”_

_“You’re a lot stronger than I thought; we might more in common than I thought.”_

_“Well break times over.”_

-

You looked at Benimaru with a predetermined resolution, “I meant every word.”

His breath hitched in his throat, as he looked to you and to the deadly sharpened weapon in your hands.

“Don’t do this!”

You grasped the wooden rod of your spear tighter. “If it wasn’t for you!” You hung your head downwards, your voice dropping several decibels, “I wouldn’t be the fire soldier I am today. Even when I was at company one; I worked myself to the bone so I could catch up to you. Not a day went by where I didn’t want to come back to our town and hope that I could see you again.”

You wiped away your tears, “This is payment for everything you’ve done for me. I don’t know what’ll be the outcome of this battle so I might as well say this now.”

You crouched in front of him and put on the bravest possible smile you could muster as you held his face in your hands and pressed your lips to his, “I don’t love you as the captain of company seven or Shinmon Benimaru, ‘The Destroyer of Asakusa’. I love you as Beni, I love _you_.”

You pulled away and time seemed to still as you both looked to one another lovingly, “You’ve always been more than just my student. It’s because of you that I learned how sweet life could be, and that’s why I love you. I can’t lose you, not when we’ve only now just begun.”

His body wouldn’t move any quicker as he dragged himself towards you when you stepped away, his hand desperately reached for you as you sped past him.

“Come at me like I’m after your life you demon!” You impaled the large, curved; steel blade into its chest as sparks flew out from the friction of breaking into the infernal’s armor-like skin. You took in a deep breath, using the last of your oxygen to reinforce the end of the blade as it burned brightly.

You summoned the last of your strength as you drove it straight through, decapitating the infernal. It combusted into a massive explosion like a compressed time bomb, incinerating you along with it.

Benimaru watched as your silhouette within the blinding fire disappeared along with the infernal, ashes falling from the sky. With his still outreached hand, he hoped you would come out from behind the smoke and come back to him.

“No, not like this…” Hot tears fell from his face as he clenched his hand, “Damn it…” and drove his fist into the ground with his face parallel to its surface.

He banged his fist in rhythm with his painful cries, “No! No! No! No!” His chest constricted with overwhelming despair, “No… please… come back.”

-

Benimaru sat on the patio as he dunked his paintbrush into the jar of black paint and painted onto the matoi’s blank slate.

After the devastating attack, the entire town and those who knew you mourned your death.

Benimaru spent all the time he could repairing and making them the best he could, but it was nothing compared to the ones you had made. He would wrap his hands around the long wooden rod and would immediately be reminded of you. And when he set it ablaze with his flames like a bright matchstick, he knew you would always be right there fighting alongside him.

He would fly the skies like a shining beacon of **hope** for you.


End file.
